Sound Design & Musical Composition

AMBISONICS

Ambisonics is a special technique for gathering and using audio recordings. Ambisonic sound effects are captured by microphones that house not one but four microphones pointed in different directions

Together these four channels capture audio not only on the typical horizontal plane, but also above and below the microphone, too. In other words, these microphones record audio from every direction surrounding the microphone. So, Ambisonic recordings use hardware and software to gather a full 360 degree representation of sound.

For installation or theatre reproduction a minimum of eight loudspeakers are required. The recordings can also be experienced by using headphones. You don’t need special headphones, you can use ordinary ear buds. There are four examples below.